Young Women Encouraged To Find Their Inner Engineer

The UVic engineering students behind Go West want to inspire more young women to become engineers. They're offering week-long women-only conferences this July and August at UVic so teenage girls can discover engineering in a hands-on environment and learn more about the profession.

Go West's goal is to increase female enrolment in engineering, and with good reason - women account for just 20. 6 per cent of enrolment in Canadian engineering programs.

This low participation rate could be due in part to a basic lack of understanding by young women about engineering. A survey of 1800 high school students on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and the Lower Mainland this spring found that only 15 per cent of young women knew what engineering was, while 55 per cent of young men were aware of the profession.

Recent research by Go West also found that young women didn't consider engineering careers because of:

*Perceived difficulty

*Few female role models such as science and mathematics teachers, actors depicting engineers in television and film, and examples in high school text books

*A tendency by parents to encourage young men to choose mechanically oriented hobbies, but not encourage young women to do the same.

Go West conferences debunk misconceptions about engineering and give young women a chance to meet female role models. Participants take part in activities and workshops that involve problem solving, and projects are geared to show that engineering is about design and making life better for society. The conferences are also offered in co-ed format, and are run by UVic engineering students. No previous knowledge of engineering is required, and students entering grades 9 through 12 and those who graduated in 2001 can attend. Young women who don't live in Victoria are welcome to take part in the residential conferences that include on-campus accommodation.

For additional information, contact Karen Barker of Go West, at (250) 721-8983, or by email: go-west@engr.uvic.ca. The program's web-site is:

Media are invited to attend any of the sessions:

Female conferences: July 23-27, August 20-24, and August 6-10 (residential)
Co-ed Conferences: July 9-13, July 30-August 3
Co-ed Residential Conferences: July 16-20, August 13-17
Pre-Engineering Conference (for students who have been accepted into an engineering program at UVic): August 28-31

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